Mop cloth or element



MY 3, 3957 Q. A. FLAGS-rm MOP CLOTH OR ELEMENT Original Filed May 1,- 1946 paz.-

INVENTOR.

05cm A?. H4657@ MGP @TH 0R ELEMENT @scar A. Flagstad, Minneapolis, Minn.

riginai application May 1,l 1946, Serial No. 61.56566, now Patent No. 2,648,859, dated August 18, 1953. Dividedand this application August 1t), 1953, Serial No.373,153

1 Claim. (Cl. 15'===229) This invention relates generally to improvements in mops for cleaning the oor and other surfaces and more specifically relates to an improved mop element for use with a mop frame and handle. The present application is a division from my prior application Serial No. 666,500 for Collapsible Mop, tiled May l, 1946, now Patent No. 2,648,859, issued August 18, 1953, and the mop element disclosed and claimed herein is particularly suitedl to use with the mop frame of that patent.

ln the specification to follow I shall use the word mop throughout to describe the ilexible, fabric element which is the actual cleaning medium and will refer to the mechanism to which this mop is applied, and by which it is manipulated, as the mop frame. Also the word mop asV used herein refers to either a dry or wet mop, the first of which is used for dusting, and the latter for scrubbing, as is well known in the art.

The primary object of the present invention is to pro vide a simple and long wearing mop having means for readily attaching it to the mop frame in such fashion that the mop may move or work as the frame is manipulated, saving wear on the mop Iand increasing its eiective ness, and to provide a mop which may be elfectively cleaned by a beating action of the mop frame and by the action of the usual wringer mop bucket in the case of the wet mop.

These and other more detailed and speciiic objects will be disclosed in the course of the following specification reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. l is a side elevation of a mop frame, and of a mop of the dry variety, according to my invention, portions of the frame being broken away.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the center and one end portion of the mop frame and mop, the latter in this case being the wet type of mop.

Figs. 3 and 4 are, respectively, elevations on a somewhat reduced scale of the dry and wet mops of my invention.

Referring now to the drawing more particularly and by reference characters I show in Figs. 1 and 2 a mop frame comprising a handle 10 upon the lower end of which is clamped a bracket device made up of opposed socket forming bracket members 11 shaped to fit opposite sides of the handle and clamped together thereupon by screws 13 passing through outwardly turned ears 14. The lower ends of the members 11 have wide outwardly turned ears or plates 15 through which screws or rivets 16 are passed to hold them together. The lower edges of the ears are rolled to form loops or beads 17 forming pivot bearings for the inner adjacent ends of a pair of oppositely disposed rectangular wire frames or wings 18. The Side bars of the frames 18 are connected by comparatively thin metal plates 19 the ends of which are rolled around the frames, as indicated at 2l), fastening the plates adjacent the inner ends of the frames.

Outwardly of the plates 19 narrow strips 21 are also secured across the frames 18 and are rolled at their ends 2,8@74 Patented .luly 30, 1957 at 22 about the side bars thereof. The edges-of the strips 21 next to the plates 19 are formed with beads 23 for anchoring cross pins 24 and further are extended in the form of the ears 25 over the plates 19 and riveted thereto at 26 to permanently anchor these parts together. logs or oisets 27 (Fig. 2) formed in the side bars of the frames 18 then seive to hold the assemblies at the inner ends of the frames against the outward pull. of the mop cloth` or element when it is applied to the frame.

The lower ends of a pair of links 28 are pivotally attached at the centers of the pins 24 and the upper ends of these links are positioned between and pivoted upon cross bolts or pins 2.9 connecting the ends of a pair of cross arms or equalizers 3l). A pin 31 joins the centers of the arms 3S* and passes loosely through slots 32 in the oppositef sides of the bracket device, said slots being formed by properly spacing the adjacent edges of the members 11. The arms 30 may rock upon the pin 31 and the pin may move up and down in the slot, it being understood that the lower end of the handle 19 terminates slightly above the upper ends of the slots 32 to clear the pin.

T he pin 31 and cross arms 30 are vertically adjustable, or positionable in a direction lengthwise of the handle, by a pair of links 33, at opposite sides of the handle axis, pivotally secured at their upper ends to the extremities of the pin 31 and at their lower ends pivotally attached at 34 to a pair of levers 35. The lower ends of the levers 35, below the pivots 34, are pivotally attached at 36 to brackets 37 secured on one side of the outwardly extending ears 15, by the aforesaid screws or rivets 16. The upper ends of the levers are rigidly connected at 3S to the ends of a yoke member 39 which is shaped to and normally straddles the handle 1l) above the tangs 11,.

The plates 19 have transversely extending slots 40 between the ears 25 of the mop frame for the attachment of the mop and it is also to be noted that the wire frames 18 have spaced sides 41 and closed ends 42 remote from their pivots 17. The slots 40 are shorter, measured transversely of the mop frame, than the spacing between the sides 41.

The foregoing mop frame structure is described in complete detail in my prior patent previously identified to which attention is invited for such features as not set out herein.

The present invention relates to the mops shown in Figs. 3 and 4 which are the fabric mop elements constituting the actual cleaning media when properly made and attached to the mop frame as will now be described. The dry mop is designated generally at 43 in Fig. 3 (being also shown and so designated in Fig. l), While the Wet mop or scrub mop is designated at 44 (and also shown in Fig. 2). In each case the mop consists of an elongated rectangular fabric cleaning element 45 the margins of which may be suitably hemmed or sewed as at 46 to prevent raveling along the margins, and, of course, made of any suitable material. In width the mop approximates the width of the frame but the ends 47 of the mop are gathered in 4or tapered to a lesser width at their extremities` 48 at which the fabric is looped and sewed around anchor or fastening pins 49 made up of wire or the like with looped and widened heads 50. The Width of these ends 48 is greater than that of the aforesaid slots 4l) so that the mop ends with their pins 49 may be worked through the slots until the heads 50 may be turned to overlie the adjacent margins of the slots as seen in Fig. 2 and hold the mop ends to the frames or wings 18. When so arranged the major part of the length of the mop is extended across beneath the mop frame from end to end as clearly shown. Also very important is the fact that the mop in each case is provided with cross loops or straps 51 inwardly of the tapered ends 47 and these straps slip over the sides 41 of the mop wings 18 as clearly shown. The cross straps 51 are secured at their ends to the sides of the mop 43 i or 44 as the case may be and are otherwise loose therefrom so that the wings 18 may be slipped between the straps and the mop, thestraps not only acting to help hold the rnop in place but acting as buffers preventing Wear on the mop by the wings. Y

In the case of the dry mop 43 suitable yarn or thrums 52 are provided as usual.

'.In use the mop 43, or 44, is connected to the mop frame by doubling back the ends of the mop over the ends 42 of the wings 18, sliding the cross straps 51 over the sides 41 of the mop wings 18 and then the ends 47 are passed down beneath the strips 21 and then up through the slots 40, the pins 49 being slipped through the slots 40 and turned so that their ends 50 will hold the mop ends in place. The tapered ends 47 of the mop are important in order that the headed pins 49 in the extremities 48 of the mop may be properly engaged with the margins of the slots. No clamping of the mop ends is necessary and the pin and slot connections are not only easy to make and not subject to disarrangement in use but the entire construction is such that the mop wings and connected mop ends may be run through the rollers of the usual mop wringer pail without interference, without wearing the rollers and in such fashion as to thoroughly wring out the mop, all'as set forth in my Patent No. 2,648,859.

In actual use in mopping a iloor or other surface the equalizing linkage system of the mop frame causes the mop to work back and forth, lengthwise, the cross straps 51 alternately moving toward and away from the ends 42 along the sides 41 of the wings or frames 18. Note that the strap 51 to the right in Fig. 1 is closer to the end of the wing 18 than is the strap at the left of the mop frame. The free sliding connection between mop and frame as provided by the straps 51 permits this necessary motion without undue wear and in fact the relative working between the mop and mop frame so distributes the wear over the full length of the mop fabric that it finally wears out all at once and does not rapidly wear out at 4 any one point and therefore become useless before its full useful life is utilized.

It is understood that suitable modiiications may be made in the structure as disclosed, provided such modifications come within the spirit and scope of the appended claim. Having now therefore fully illustrated and described my invention, what I claim to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

For use in conjunction with a mop frame having oppositely extending pivoted wings and each such wing having a transverse slot extending between its sides and in spaced relation to its outer end, a mop comprising a substantially rectangular length of exible mop material long enough to extend beneath the full length of the two wings of the' mop frame and to turn back over the ends of said wings to the said slots, the mop having cross Straps secured at their ends to the sides of the mop at points spaced from its ends and where it turns back over the ends of the wings to thereby locate the straps between the ends of the wings and said slots whereby the straps may slidably engage the sides of the wings, and cross pins at the extremities of the mop extending outwardly of the mop for engagement through said slots to hold the mop to the frame, the end portions of the mop being tapered at their sides toward the extremities of the mop where said pins are located.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

